How do you neglect your depleted defense by passing on a gifted pass rusher such as Kentucky’s Josh Allen with the sixth pick of Thursday night’s NFL draft?

Does Jones have enough arm to succeed Eli Manning and carry the team one day and be the Giants’ next franchise quarterback?

Gettleman not falling in love with USC’s Sam Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen or UCLA’s Josh Rosen a year ago forced him to reach for a projection that satisfies his need to implement the Kansas City model that worked like a charm for the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes studying under Alex Smith for a year.

Drafting a quarterback at No. 6 who will not play football this season over an impact defensive player like Allen increases the Giants’ chances of capturing another top-10 pick in the 2020 draft — and not spend it on studs such as Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert or Jake Fromm.

The 2019 Giants are certainly not equipped to win, and now you have to question whether the 2020 Giants will have a legitimate chance to win with Jones — or 39-year-old Eli Manning if the kid needs more schooling — and with a suspect defense.

Good luck, Saquon Barkley.

Look, no one is saying Jones will be Dave Brown, another Dookie who was not the post-Phil Simms answer. He has smarts and toughness and work ethic and more athleticism than Manning. And there will be some who will take solace in the fact a quarterback guru like Duke coach David Cutcliffe looks at Jones and sees the Manning Bros., all of whom he has coached. And legendary HOF executive Gil Brandt has compared Jones to Peyton Manning at a similar stage. Love Brandt, but he and Cutcliffe are in the minority in that one.

He wasn’t even the best quarterback in this draft. Dwayne Haskins was, and he’s now on the Redskins. And Daniel Snyder got him at 15.Chris Simms, son of Phil? He viewed Jones as a second-rounder.

Sure, Gettleman had the kind of conviction on Jones that Ernie Accorsi had in 2004 on Eli Manning, but he could have waited for the draft to come to him and at worst, traded up a few slots for Jones, or at best, take him with the 17th pick.

Here’s the thing that worries you about Gettleman: What if he has fallen in love with the wrong quarterback?

There are Giants fans today who only hope they hear Gettleman say: “We didn’t draft him to trade him.”

What if Gettleman and Pat Shurmur were seduced and intoxicated by the dream of finding an Eli clone, in temperament, personality and style?

“I’m going to try to be myself and not be Eli,” Jones said.

The good news: Jones will fit in just fine with the culture.

A text from my high school buddy Giants fan in Los Angeles: “When does the nightmare end?”

Followed by: “Since Gettleman’s plan is to kick ass could you kindly inquire or advise if Jones plays DE or linebacker??? Thank you.”

The 17th pick, the one acquired in the ill-advised Odell Beckham Jr. trade, NT Dexter Lawrence, is a 342-pound hog molly who will be anathema to Ezekiel Elliott — but there still isn’t an elite pass rusher in the house.

“You look historically at the Super Bowl champions, and you show me one that’s had a bad defensive front,” Gettleman said in 2013. “Doesn’t happen — I’m telling you — it does not happen.”

The Giants are a long, long way from any Super Bowl. But Josh Allen from Kentucky would have gotten them a step closer than Daniel Jones.Gettleman has told us that you better have a mental toughness about you to play in this market. And now Jones will be measured against Darnold for the rest of his New York career.

“I think my will to compete separated me,” Jones said.

Cutcliffe told me that Jones wanted the New York stage. He’s lucky he wasn’t at the MetLife Stadium viewing party. The poor kid would have felt the way Roger Goodell must feel standing in front of the draft audience announcing the picks.